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I am thrilled to see that KidLit Con is teaming up with RIF, in order to help RIF get books into the hands of those who need them. RIF was a victim of the recent budget crisis and lost the federal funds that they rely on in order to perform their mission. Colleen, one of the KidLit Con organizers released the following information on her blog:

I’m sure many of you are aware how RIF’s budget was decimated by the elimination of federal funds this year. I’m not going to get all political with you because the hard truth is that there are few painless answers to our economic mess. But cutting RIF is particularly harsh as it exists solely to put books into the hands of children who otherwise can not afford them. RIF is an investment in our future in the purest and most direct terms. When you think about that way, it’s hard to understand why anyone would ever put RIF on the chopping block but that is what has happened and now we just have to do what we can to make sure that future promise remains unchanged.

There are many generous groups and corporations who have stepped up to help RIF and for that we should all be grateful. KidLit Con is seeking to make a more personal and direct contribution as the funds we raise will be coming directly from book lovers in the pursuit of creating more book lovers. Now is the time, quite frankly, where we need to put up or shut up. If you are a writer or a librarian or a bookseller or a book blogger or if you read blogs about books then this fundraiser is targeted directly at you.

A few links from around the blogosphere that you might be interested in:

Betsy Bird was awesome enough to film the ALA Awards live. Want to see what it’s like to be in the room when the awards are announced? Check out Part One of her videos. I know I plan to show the Newbery and Sibert portions to my students later this week.

The Reading Countess asks, “What would our classrooms be like if we didn’t have standardized testing mandated by NCLB?”

Donalyn Miller, aka The Book Whisperer, shares an email she recently sent to her student’s parents about the importance of completing at-home independent reading. She says so eloquently what I always want to say. Just because there is not written work with independent reading each night does not mean it’s optional or less important than any other homework!